Start of a Joke
by loosingletters
Summary: A pirate goes to Impel Down and shares his cell with a political bargain chip and a wannabe noble. What sounds like the start of a really bad joke has just become reality for Ace.


**I wrote this for ASL bros week day 9: Freer Than Anyone Else. I thought it would be funny to have the OS for this day take place in prison.**

"Oi, Magellan," he recalled his shitty gramps saying. "Put him with the other brats."

The marine's words had confused Ace a lot more than he had shown but now that he had arrived at his cell, they were starting to make sense. The cell he had been thrown in was occupied by two others around the same age as him. The taller one wore the dirty version of a noble's outfit, his wavy blonde hair and the blue top hat only adding to the theme. What was a wannabe noble doing in Impel Down? Then again everybody on the Grand Line dressed a little weird so the fashion sense of the criminals down here shouldn't surprise Ace.

"Hello, Ace!" The one wearing a Straw Hat greeted him.

"Uhm- Hello to you too?" He replied dumbfound, surprised the other knew his name.

"Name's Luffy, I'm a political bargain chip 'cause my dad's a dragon!" The black haired teenager introduced himself enthusiastically.

"Your dad is _Dragon_ , not _a_ dragon," the wannabe noble corrected the younger but the black haired teenager didn't seem to care.

"Same difference."

The blonde rolled his eyes before scooting over, making space for Ace on the makeshift picnic blanket consisting of a coat and various old bed sheets. The pirate sat down feeling like he was missing quite the story here but neither of his fellow inmates elaborated.

The noble and Luffy both stared at him expectantly and Ace honestly had never felt more out of place, not even when he had still been trying to pops.

"So what's your story?" The noble finally asked, apparently sensing that Ace didn't get whatever they wanted from him. "What got you here?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I told you?" Luffy replied, sounding just like he thought Ace was stupid.

"You didn't!"

"I did!" Luffy argued. "My dad's a dragon so I'm here!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Luffy crossed his arms, it was only then that Ace noticed that he wasn't wearing any cuffs at all, and pouted. "Does too."

"Does not!"

"Does-"

"Stop it, you two!" The wannabe noble interrupted their childish fight, annoyance apparent. "Can't you two act like grown men?"

"Leave me alone, Sabo," Luffy muttered and kicked the blonde, who, upon getting the other's foot rammed into his side, let out a pained gasp.

"Manners, Luffy," the blonde still managed to remind the black haired adolescent. What the hell was wrong with that guy, Ace silently wondered. Nobody cared about manners in a situation like this!

"Never learnt them!" Luffy just laughed though before turning to Ace again. "And it does make sense! You see, my dad's a dragon and the government doesn't like dragons 'cause dragons collect big hoards and take care of them so the government's treasure isn't as big anymore but better taken care of. But the government doesn't like that their treasure is shrinking so when they found out I was alive around eh- ten years ago, they caught me and put me in here. Now they threaten my dad with my life."

Ace was sure that somewhere between the dragon metaphors he would be able to make sense of the story.

"Replace _a dragon_ with Dragon the Revolutionary, _hoard_ with liberated countries and _taking care of_ with establishing a fair government and you get what's going on," Sabo explained. "It took me a bit to understand, but don't worry, you'll get used to Luffy-speech in a few weeks."

He shrugged and offered Ace a smile that looked only half fake, which apparently was a huge success because Luffy immediately went to hug Sabo and praise him for his smiling skills. It was kind of cute and way too happy for Impel Down's Level 6.

"I don't have a few weeks to get used to it though. I'd say a week at max," Ace threw in because hey, he was going to die anyway, so the least he could do was amuse a teenager who was a victim of his father's life.

"A week?" Luffy repeated curiously.

"Yeah, I'll- I'll die then. But it's going to be fine. I lived my life and- it's alright."

Ace wasn't really sure if he was trying to convince himself or Luffy.

"So you're just giving up?"

Under any other circumstances Ace would have smacked whoever asked something like that but Luffy sounded so naïve. It was childish curiosity, really.

"I've just accepted my destiny."

"That's stupid," the teenager decided.

"Seconded," it came from Sabo, who didn't possess childish curiosity and so deserved the hit he got.

"I'd never accept this stupid destiny thing, especially if it means death. I've been here for a decade already and I've never given up! I trained and got stronger and stronger and tried to escape over and over again! Last time I got to Level 1! Then my power ran out."

At that Luffy's smile fell a bit and he curled his fingers to a fist. "But still," he continued, "I'm never gonna give up. I'll be the freest person out there sailing the sea, together with Sabo! We're gonna visit lots of places and have a great adventure!"

"And I'll write all about it," Sabo added. "And punch another Tenryuubito."

"Sounds like a nice- wait _what_?!" Ace was sure he had misheard the blonde. He wanted to punch _who_?

But Sabo and Luffy just nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I am- _was_ a noble and a Tenryuubito liked my quote unquote ' _pretty face'_ so she wanted to marry me. Then she killed her last husband on a whim right in front of me. I punched her and got put here."

Sabo shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal to him. Not a single bit of regret could be found within the blonde. No, he even wanted to do it _again_.

Ace started to shake, tried to keep it in, but he couldn't help but to start laughing. It all sounded like a joke. What kind people were his cellmates? Crazy, stupid, idealistic _dreamers_. Perhaps it was because of their attitude that Ace didn't feel as terrible as before. At least his last days would be pleasant.

 _("Hey, Ace."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _What do you want to be?"_

 _"_ _Free."_

 _A few hours later Impel Down's first mass break out was staged.)_

 **Basically Sabo never ran away, Luffy got captured early and Ace grew up alone. Luffy confusing dragon (noun) and Dragon (name) is my fave thing and I'll never let go of that. Yes, they make it out and become the marines' greatest annoyance, Sabo punches another Tenryuubito, Luffy never gives up and has a great adventure and Ace lives.  
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!**


End file.
